Stolen / Recovered Car - Insurance Advice

[BigTuna]

Car has been stolen and subsquently recovered, after some farting about it is now released for collection. I was going to collect it myself, but the bill to the recovery firm is edging closer to my excess and I'm concerned that there is extensive mechanical damage to the car.

I discussed this with a very pushy woman on the phone, who told me that they would have it recovered by COPART and then assessed. I'm not convinced they will give the car a fair assesment.

My question is, am I able to instruct a third party to collect and asses the car on my behalf, or am I confined to the company that my insurance company would like to use?

[Ej74]

You can do whatever you like - just insist that it is taken o a specialist that you would like to assess the damage they can not refuse the request.

It's what i did !

[7 Sevens]

I think CoPart are one of the main salvage agents. It could actually be the agent that your insurer would use. Strange they are recovering it to a salvage agent and not a garage for inspection. Of course CoPart may actually do all their recovery work there.

No reason it can't go to a garage of your choosing. Speak to the insurer.

[Haribo Man]

It will go to a salvage agent first as insurers agree preferential storage rates and recovery fees whilst it is there or in the case of stolen/recovered by the Police it will go to whovever the Police use and at the standard fees which the Police charge (£105 from whatI remember a couple of years back) From this point they will send out one of their engineers who will inspect and then decide if the vehicle is repairable or not. if it is repairable then you have a choice of the insurers approved repairer (again preferential rates) or a garage of your choice but repair costs will only be agreed as long as they are in line with what would be paid to the approved repairer. There is nothing preventing you recoving it to your own address/garage/somewhere else however if additional transport/storage costs are incurred above what the insurance company would pay then you may be liable for these extra costs.